Tom and Giovanna Fletcher apologise for ‘huge error of judgement’ over furlough use

I’m a Celebrity star and McFly singer have repaid the money

Tom and Giovanna Fletcher have apologised for using the government furlough scheme despite their estimated joint worth being £8m.

Giovanna, who won I’m a Celebrity last year, and McFly star Tom issued the apology after reports emerged that they had received up to £30,000 from the scheme.

The couple denied that figure was correct, but called their use of the money a “huge error of judgement”.

In a statement on Instagram, they said: “Hi everyone, we’ve always had a very honest and open relationship with you all on here so we thought it was important to address questions that some of you have rightly asked us in the last 24 hours.

“This weekend there was an article in one of the Sunday papers about us using the government furlough scheme. While parts of the article were inaccurate (including all of the figures mentioned), it is true that we did follow financial advice to furlough someone we employ.”

The statement added: “Although it was a time of great uncertainty, we clearly should have thought more about the situation and funded it ourselves. It was a huge error of judgement and a mistake we wholeheartedly take responsibility for and we have paid the full amount back.”

The Fletchers married in 2012, and have three sons together: Buzz aged seven, Buddy who is five and Max, aged two.